


Going Out With a Bang

by Babblefest, ConstantCommentTea



Series: Blood and Time [9]
Category: Angel: the Series, Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Contains the plot of a different story, Epic Friendship, Gen, Having a nice chat while internally dying, It will all make sense eventually, Meeting Past Doctors, Missing Scene, One Shot, Original Character(s), Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:53:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28515255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Babblefest/pseuds/Babblefest, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConstantCommentTea/pseuds/ConstantCommentTea
Summary: An extension of the 11th Doctor’s Goodbye Tour that ends with his visit to Craig. The Doctor visits another old friend: Angel. The Doctor’s never been good at goodbyes and this visit is not improving on his record. Featuring the Doctor and Angel completely failing to keep their timelines in any sort of order, Donna Noble shouting, and a prominent guest appearance by OC Judith Cole.
Relationships: Angel & the Doctor
Series: Blood and Time [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/89854
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue: August 29, 1966

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is a short, sweet, slightly-devasting-but-you'll-find-out-why-later one shot that fits neatly into both the _Blood & Time_ series and the _Interaction_ series. If you don't know anything about either series, go ahead and read it. It might not make perfect sense, but we did try to reiterate the necessary context.
> 
> If you're wondering which stories you should (re)read for the complete context, we recommend:  
> 1\. _Pull to Open_ (Blood & Time)  
> 2\. _A Short Trip Outside the Universe_ (Blood & Time)  
> 3\. _Confidants & Rubies_ (Interaction)  
> 4\. There's a story that will make everything make perfect sense from the Doctor's POV, but that story hasn't been posted yet. Stay tuned. (Blood & Time)
> 
> Thanks and enjoy!

**August 29, 1966**

Screams from 25,000 people rang in the Doctor’s ears with such force it was as though the sound waves had coalesced into a physical wall that pressed against him from every side. The air was barely breathable through the smells of sweat, urine, and several different perfumes that had definitely gone off a few hours ago. So hot that sweat dripped down his back under his jacket, the Doctor turned, pushing against the mass of human bodies around him, but sound filled the space instead of air. He found it all very fitting. Perhaps too fitting now that he had been stunned and immobilized by the whole thing, but there was no escape now that he’d gotten here. He would have to simply survive.

Sometime, the Doctor thought he should learn to not execute every plan that popped into his head, even if that plan seemed very fitting for his current situation and mood. Putting off his own farewell tour to watch The Beatles’ final public performance was so devastatingly typical of him, he felt like he’d somehow called himself out. Fortunately, he couldn’t hear himself through the wall of sound. That itself was a relief. Plus, if he squinted, he could make out that there were four human-shaped beings on the stage. All playing their instruments very dutifully in spite of fact that no one would be able to hear a single note that they played. The Doctor had to wonder which moment had made The Beatles realize that they could no longer continue if this was the result. Was it the screams or the ringing silence that he knew would follow? Was it the realization that in spite of their best efforts, they were no longer fulfilling their passion, but simply miming it on a stage for an audience that didn’t care about the results? 

Whatever moment had happened for them, the Doctor felt it burning in his soul until tears stung his eyes. How long had he been playing his own songs to a screaming crowd? And the Doctor was pretty sure that his audience wasn’t screaming with excitement. 

Perhaps it really was time for his farewell tour. 


	2. An Issue of Venue

It wasn’t that the Doctor didn’t want to say goodbye. Well, it was that, but it was also an awkward issue of timing. Some of the people he would normally visit had last been visited by him while he had been dying. It seemed wrong to do it again and the Doctor grumbled darkly at his past self for stealing his own sense of closure. 

But in spite of the not wanting to and having (kind of) already done it, the Doctor felt he needed to say goodbye to _someone_ or _something_ if not just for the sake of turning a final page to see that last, solitary sentence on an otherwise empty page. Perhaps it was uncharitable of him that it was Angel that came to mind, but once the thought occurred to him he liked it. Angel didn’t make a fuss (or his fussing was not the sort that would get in the Doctor’s way at the moment). He also would be most likely to understand if the Doctor were to explain things (which he had no intention of doing). 

He wasn’t particularly picky about his timing. It was after they’d met, which would be helpful, and after they knew each other a bit better. Ideally, Angel wouldn’t punch him on sight. That was a nice thought. When he checked the coordinates on the screen on his way toward the door, it said that it was September, 2229. The Doctor patted the console appreciatively as he stepped away. Autumn was a good choice. That was also for endings. 

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS and into the middle of Angel’s small, wood-infested flat (maybe it was an irony thing?) and looked around. Bookshelves lined one wall above a row of floor cabinets that the Doctor knew stored various almost Shakespearian ingredients for spells (eye of newt, toe of frog, that sort of thing). In the wall to the right of the bookshelves was the front door, but when the Doctor pivoted leftward on his heel, he found Angel standing in the narrow space between his couch and the apothecary table he used as a coffee table (and to store yet more Shakespearian-apthecarian ingredients, and also little bells), looking surprised at the Doctor’s sudden appearance.

The Doctor thought of saying “hello,” but it seemed counterproductive so he just grinned as winningly as he could. After several unnaturally long seconds where Angel just stared at him (refusing to start the conversation; the Doctor should have planned for that), the Doctor flung out his arms to both sides to present himself like a magician on a stage. He redoubled the grin. 

He won. Angel broke. Well, he made a sound that was close to half of a chuckle, but that was very expressive for Angel. Angel shook his head like shaking away his shock and made his way around the apothecary table. 

“Hello, Doctor,” Angel said as he approached. 

“Oh,” the Doctor said, uncertain if they were about to hug or kiss cheeks or Angel was probably a hand-shaking type now that the Doctor was thinking about it. “Aloha,” he said, deciding to hug Angel just when Angel was too close to do much about it. 

Angel stiffened, but a moment later, the Doctor felt a friendly little thump on his back in response.

The Doctor felt that had gone shockingly well. He’d needed a hug. Pulling away, he tucked his hands into his pockets and resumed his smile. He rocked onto his toes.

“Oh,” Angel said like he’d just remembered something. He backed away toward his tiny library, which was nestled behind the wall of bookshelves (which presumably were spillover from the library itself - it was a classic example of where bigger-on-the-inside technology was really applicable) and next to the bedroom, gesturing for the Doctor to follow him.

When Angel opened the door to the library, there stood - still working and whirring like a champ - was the Thing Detector he’d built when he had been staying with Angel the last time he’d been there.

“Please take it back,” Angel said with a pleading tone in his voice. “I shuffled it off onto Calder for like a week, but he said it was a mood killer. Plus, it goes _ding_ but it doesn’t actually tell you where the stuff is! Or what kind of stuff! How is it supposed to be helpful?” 

“It went _ding_?” the Doctor asked. This trip was looking up already. “It’s time stuff, Angel. By all accounts, it probably went off just as I arrived.” He leaned over to give the machine a pat. A fan fell off. It looked like it hadn’t exactly been moved with care. He leaned in and adjusted the fans a bit. “Oh,” he said, disappointed now that he had a good look at it. “The sensors are off their adjustment. It’s probably picking up your neighbor’s microwave now.” 

Angel rubbed at the back of his head. “Well...can you still take it back? Except leave the spatula. That’s mine.”

“Well,” the Doctor said, his hands settling on his hips. He hadn’t exactly planned this farewell visit out, but he hadn’t been expecting to be given cleaning up to do. But maybe that was fitting in the end. Clean up a final mess before he headed out into the world. “I suppose I can,” he admitted. He reached in and yanked the spatula free and handed it to Angel. “With my compliments,” he said. 

“Thank you,” Angel replied with a nod as he took the spatula.

There was a knock at the front door and Angel stepped out to answer it, leaving the Doctor facing the Thing Detector. The Doctor nodded to it and fiddled with one of the antenni before he heard the door open and voices. 

Ditching the contraption, the Doctor poked his head out into the living room. 

It was Judith Cole, lover of history, stealer of TARDISes, and suspiciously emphatically _not_ Angel’s girlfriend. Angel liked her anyway and the Doctor had thought he’d left them to talk that sort of not-girlfriend thing out. The romantic in him hoped that they were happily together, but he tended to think that about a lot of people and they certainly weren’t snogging at the door, which could just be polite. The Doctor remembered Judith being very polite. 

“Judith!” he said, throwing his arms out again. “Don’t steal my TARDIS again. I need it.” 

Judith gave him a smile that was much brighter than Angel had given him and approached, saying, “I don’t think I ever apologized for that, Doctor. I’m very sorry and I certainly do not plan on doing it again.” She gave him a friendly, if brief, hug.

“No harm done,” the Doctor said. “Except, of course, for the appliances that gave their lives for the cause.” He stepped back to look at Judith. “I’m glad you’re here,” he decided. 

Looking both mildly surprised and pleased, Judith beamed. “Thank you, Doctor. Likewise. I had so many more questions for you. Are you here to visit or is there something else going on?”

“I just realized that we didn’t really say goodbye before,” the Doctor said. That was worryingly close to the truth. Judith had a way of neutralizing the manic side of the Doctor’s energy. He needed to watch out for that. “Also,” he said, leaning in and lowering his voice a bit, “I think I owe you a proper trip. Jumping forward ten days is not exactly the best showing of the TARDIS’s potential.” 

Judith seemed pleased by this. “Really?” she asked, smiling. “Doctor, I would _love_ that.” She glanced at Angel, gauging his reaction.

Angel looked between Judith and the Doctor, and seemed to slowly realize that he was supposed to weigh in an opinion. “A trip?” he asked. “What, now?” 

“Why not?” the Doctor asked, liking the idea more and more. “Just a quick little jaunt to...gardens or plays or history, no, I have it! Fireworks! Nothing’s better than a good fireworks show! The best in history? A tour of contenders for the best and then a rousing argument about which one is the best? The year 3054 is a good pick, or 2078.” The Doctor’s mind ran through all the options and he twisted on his heels. He landed with a stomp of his foot looking straight back at Judith. “No,” he said with a grin, “you like history. What about we start at the beginning?” 

Judith’s eyes shone with that beautiful wonder of a brand-new companion. “I _love_ beginnings,” she breathed.

The Doctor felt a pang of regret. He was going to miss beginnings. “So do I,” he said. He smiled at Judith, enjoying the gleam in her eye for a moment before he looked up at Angel. “What do you say? Care to see the first fireworks?” 

Angel glanced between Judith and the Doctor once more before giving them both a small smile and a nod. “I’d love to,” he conceded. “The first fireworks.” He reached out with his fingers to gently (almost clandestinely) nudge Judith’s forearm with affection.

Clapping his hands, the Doctor bounced on the spot. He turned and inserted the key into the TARDIS door, pausing for just a second to admire how the key slid easily into the lock, the firm way it turned and _clicked_ open. Pushing the door open, he held out an arm to welcome Angel and Judith in. “Welcome aboard,” he said softly. 

With an expression like all of this was brand new, and she hadn’t already snuck on board the TARDIS once before, pulled some levers on the console, and jumped into the future, Judith stepped through the doorway, taking everything in with awe and a gleam of excitement.

Angel followed, paying more attention to Judith than the TARDIS. That was likely because Angel was a smart man. The Doctor liked that about him. He let them both walk in and take in the marvel that was the TARDIS and Judith discovering the TARDIS before he quietly pulled the door shut behind them. “So!” he said, taking the stairs two at a time. “The very first fireworks show. A night that will light the fuse on beauty and wonder for millenia. What could be better than that? And boy oh boy does it start with a _bang!_ ”

“So we’re going to China?” Judith asked, eyes as wide as a child’s on Christmas morning as she watched the Doctor take the controls at the console. “Before the year 1000, correct?”

“Yes!” the Doctor said, flicking switches with gusto now. “We’re aiming for the year 814! But people were already deep in discovery. Figuring things out. Making advancements. Building and creating and dreaming. Wonderful stuff!” 

“814!” Judith’s voice cried excitedly from the other side of the console. In the next second the Doctor had circled back to their side of the console and he could see Judith give Angel a grin of delight, which Angel returned to her.

“That’s definitely before my time,” Angel said.

“Doctor,” Judith asked, taking hold of Angel’s elbow as the ship trembled with pre-takeoff energy, “will we need to change clothes to blend in?”

“Why not?” the Doctor said. “We can go find the wardrobe if you like. Make a thing of it!” He flicked a switch a few times. “Although we probably won’t _see_ anyone. Not to ruin the ending, but we might not want to be a bunch of aliens new in town right when the first _bang_ goes off.” 

“Oh,” Judith nodded, taking a moment to absorb that information. “Of course, that makes sense. We wouldn’t want to risk a butterfly effect.”

“It’s at night, so I don’t think there will be any butterflies,” the Doctor assured her. “I don’t know why everyone has it in for butterflies though.” He raised his eyebrows at Angel, wondering if Angel also had an obsession with butterfly-assassination-based timeline alterations.

For some reason, Angel seemed amused by this. “I don’t have it in for butterflies,” he assured the Doctor. “I think they’re pretty.”

“I knew I could count on you,” the Doctor said, relieved. He had not, if fact, known that he could count on Angel in this matter. It was nice to have such a positive result. “Still, I understand the need for period-appropriate dress when the fancy strikes. I won’t stop you if you’d like to change,” the Doctor said to Judith. 

Judith bit her lower lip and looked between Angel and the Doctor, seeming torn on her choices.

“Go change,” Angel told her. “This is your trip and you know you want to.”

Judith’s eyes sparkled as she looked at him, a smile spreading on her lips. After a long moment of admiring this smile, Angel looked at the Doctor and nodded.

“Go on!” the Doctor said. “Up the stairs. Take a right. A left. _Down_ some stairs. There’s a wardrobe in the pink bedroom.” 

With a look of seriousness at these instructions that warred with her smile, Judith nodded and thanked the Doctor, then turned and headed for the stairs. At the top, she turned back and repeated, “Right, left, down, pink bedroom.”

“That’s it,” the Doctor said. “I’ll turn on the floor lights. Follow the arrows to get back.” 

Judith thanked him again and a moment later disappeared. After a few seconds of silence, Angel edged up to the console, eyed the buttons and knobs warily, and wisely decided not to lean against it. “So...how long has it been?” Angel asked.

“Not too,” the Doctor said, lifting his shoulder. “For us, it’s barely been any time at all.” He waited for Angel’s grunt of acknowledgement. “How’d your--” the Doctor started, nodding his head back toward the upper hallway where Judith had disappeared. “Everything settle in once I left?”

Angel also glanced up toward the upper hallway. “Good,” he replied. “We’re still…” He paused and the silence rang for a long moment. “Um. You know,” he finished. “But people know now, so it’s less...confusing. It’s a new normal, anyway.”

None of that sounded fun at all to the Doctor, but if Angel was happier then maybe that was all that was needed. “Good!” he said, maybe overcompensating on how happy he sounded for Angel. “That’s good. Of course, I sort of like confusion. Keeps you on your toes! It’s exciting!” 

To his surprise, that made Angel smile. “It really does,” he agreed. “Now that we’re on the same page about being confused, it’s...yeah, it’s exciting to not know what’s going to happen with it. It’s new and sometimes a little scary, but we’re in it together.”

The Doctor smiled back. That sounded a lot like the first few trips with a new friend. Both of them figuring out the other and learning how to work together. “I like that,” the Doctor said. “I like being in things together.” 

“It’s better,” Angel agreed. He hesitated before he added, “It took me a long time to see that. But it is; it’s better.” After another moment of hesitation, he asked, “So… The Alignment of Exodor. Did it work?”

“It will,” the Doctor said quickly. He nodded and placed a hand back on the console, feeling the thrum of energy. “It will. Thank you, by the way. It means a lot what you did.” 

Angel stared at the Doctor for a moment in a way that made the Doctor feel decidedly uneasy. Like his eyes were sonic screwdrivers boring into the Doctor’s consciousness. “Of course,” Angel replied after a moment. “I’d do it again. Why won’t it work?”

The Doctor blinked. “I just said that it would,” he said. He waved a hand, “It just hasn’t been that long for me. I have to wait for the right time before I can make the jump.” 

Angel continued to stare at the Doctor piercingly.

“That’s how it works,” the Doctor said. He suppressed a shiver of just how final that option was. A whole new universe. Perhaps he should be excited. 

After waiting another long moment, Angel finally said, “Okay. Will you be coming back to this universe after...after it’s all over?”

That hurt. The Doctor rubbed his finger at the metal between two buttons and regretted coming. He didn’t like goodbyes. What could he possibly say to that? “Of course,” he said, “just gotta lay low until my death is a little less fixed in time.” 

Angel nodded. “Good,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll both look forward to your visit after you’re not dead.”

“Really?” the Doctor said. “Did I wear you down?” 

Angel shifted, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Well…” he said slowly. “You make her happy.” He jerked his head toward the corridor Judith had disappeared through. “And these days I’m kind of focused on making her happy.”

The Doctor smiled. “I’d like to think that I leave people happy,” he said. “I’ll do my best tonight. How’s that?” He slapped Angel’s shoulder with his hand. 

Angel grinned at him and replied, “Funny, that was my plan, too…”

“Really?” the Doctor said. “I guess we’re in agreement.” He turned back to the console just to watch the glow of blinking lights. “I was thinking I might go grab a few things. We can set up something of a picnic while we wait for the show. How’s that sound?” 

Angel nodded. “That sounds good,” he agreed. “Want help?”

“Yes!” the Doctor said. “Come, come, I need to make the tea! And find a blanket. I should keep one on me for these sorts of occasions.” 

Angel followed the Doctor further into the TARDIS hallways, silently listening to the Doctor list all of the other things he really should keep on himself for various occasions, and dutifully set to work making tea when they reached the kitchen and the Doctor pointed out the cabinets that held the tea-making staples. Like tea bags. Also, thermoses and cups.

“Why have I never taken you on a proper trip, Angel?” the Doctor asked. 

Angel gave a little snort. “Outside the universe isn’t far enough away to count as a proper trip?” he asked. 

The Doctor lifted the copper tea kettle and looked back at Angel over his shoulder. “I don’t think...I haven’t done that,” he said. “Isn’t that odd?” 

Angel blinked and looked up from stuffing a tea bag into one of the thermoses. “You haven’t? That...is...odd. Really? Cold place, gravity turning off...scavenging?”

“Scavenging?” the Doctor said. “I’m not really a scavenger. Well--” he thought back on the last several contraptions that he’d made. All from most-definitely scavenged parts, “--okay, maybe I am a bit of a scavenger.” He set the kettle aside. With the kettle, he tried to set aside the sense of hope that he had a future. Timelines could wither and die for him just like they could for anyone else. It actually made sense that he’d be giving something up by jumping into another universe. A day of scavenging on a cold planet with Angel was one of them, apparently. 

“It was...nice,” Angel said, like trying out the word to see if it fit. “Um-- Let me know when you...do that. If you would. I’ve been wondering for a while now.”

The thought of Angel quietly trying to figure out when an adventure fit into their timeline added an interesting layer to their past conversations. The Doctor would have to give that some thought. “Sure,” he said, fairly certain that the day would never come. “I’ll let you know when the gravity starts to get dodgy.” 

Angel nodded silently, looking like he wasn’t sure he really wanted to be told that. He set the three thermoses next to the Doctor on the counter. “The green one is Judith’s. She likes Earl Grey. The others are peppermint and just regular black tea. You can pick which one you want.”

“Thank you,” the Doctor said. “I think I’ll take the black today.” 

Angel gave the Doctor another one of those piercing looks, but it didn’t last long this time. “What else can I get?”

“Biscuits!” the Doctor said. “But leave it to me. They’re sneaky little devils.” Sure enough, once he was done pouring the water, it took him a good ten minutes of opening cabinets before he found an acceptable box of biscuits that wasn’t crushed, crumbled, opened, stale, or flavored in some disgusting way. They were eventually found lurking behind a drawer full of chopsticks. “There you are, you sneaky thing,” the Doctor said, pulling them out. “What did I say, Angel? Sneaky.” 

“Sneaky,” Angel agreed. He held up a woven basket with a lid. “I found this in your oven.”

“Right. It’s probably learned its lesson,” the Doctor said. “Load ‘er up.” 

Together, they packed up the picnic basket and headed back to the console room. Judith was waiting for them, standing a polite meter away from all the levers and buttons. She was wearing a modest grey robe with sleeves so wide they touched the ground. As she turned at their approach, the fabric moved easily with her and they could see she was wearing a white tunic under the robe, dark trousers, and a sash to tie it all together that was delicately embroidered with white thread at the ends. Her hair was pulled neatly back, leaving none of her expectant expression hidden.

“There you are,” Judith said.

“Yes! But now we have snacks!” the Doctor said. “Found the wardrobe? And picked something. You seemed the decisive type. Most of the time I make sure people aren’t going to disappear for hours before I let them in the wardrobe.” 

“Well, of course I wanted to be as historically accurate as possible,” Judith replied. “And I didn’t want to wear anything too flashy, in case we do come across anyone. I know very little about ancient Chinese aristocracy and certainly couldn’t pass if I were asked any questions. I thought a woman of a lowly station was probably wisest. I couldn’t resist the cranes, though,” she added, fingering the embroidered ends of the sash.

“I like how you think,” the Doctor said. “Already has a cover story.” He handed the basket off to Angel to bring them in for a landing. “Better hold onto something!” he said as he gripped the dematerialization lever. 

As Angel held onto one of the railings, Judith gripped his elbow of the arm that was holding the picnic basket. The ship jolted, rocking all three of them, but everyone kept their balance and moments later everything became still. 

The air tingled with anticipation as Judith turned to look at the front door, still gripping Angel’s elbow.

“I should probably mention,” the Doctor said, clapping his hands together, “that I might have...once...done this already.” 

Both Judith and Angel turned to look at him.

“Okay…” Angel said. “So we...need to avoid you?” His eyes widened. “Are you not coming with us?”

“Nothing like that.” The Doctor waved off the risk. “We just need to steer clear of the one side of the field. And maybe walk around a bit to avoid running into me.” The Doctor wouldn’t have minded seeing Donna again. He missed her terribly just thinking about it, but if there was one person he wasn’t interested in seeing again, it was himself. “Just nevermind the shouty redhead.” 

Angel shared a look of amusement with Judith and nodded. “You want to go out first?” he asked her.

Grinning more widely, Judith nodded and let go of his elbow. Already inching toward the front door, she asked the Doctor, “May I?”

“I absolutely insist,” the Doctor said. He stepped closer to say, “I give you History: Live and in Technicolor.” 

Eyes shining with the brightness of her smile, Judith turned and hurried down the stairs toward the front door. Angel followed, but was barely halfway there before Judith had pulled open the door and stepped out.

When the Doctor had caught up with them and shut the door behind them moments later, Judith was crying. Not sobbing, just a leak of tears of overwhelm and happiness as she stared around them.

Which must have really said something about her love of history because they had landed in the woods. The Doctor was certain there were still forests in the 23rd century. Or perhaps she was overwhelmed by the fact that it was a Chinese forest? China _was_ a fascinating and beautiful place.

Angel stepped up behind her and carefully slid his arms around her waist. That seemed to bring Judith back into her body. 

“Sorry,” she said quickly. “It’s-- It’s silly, I know.”

“Not silly,” Angel told her gently.

“Possibly just the best kind of silly,” the Doctor said. He took a deep breath. “It smells different, don’t you think? You can really judge a year by the smell. It doesn’t have the acidic overtones and there’s a hint of spice...that must be the town. Should be--” he licked his finger and stuck it in the air. He eyed the ripples of time, watching for the snaring that might occur if he got too close to himself. “--This way I think,” he said, pointing off to the east. 

Both Angel and Judith let out the breaths they’d taken in to smell the air and Angel gave Judith’s waist a squeeze before dropping his hands. “I can smell that,” he agreed, picking up the picnic basket again. 

“I think I can, too,” Judith agreed as they started moving toward the west. “Maybe because I really want to. But it does smell so much cleaner here. Purer. Wilder. I think I might just stay here, if that’s alright with everyone.”

“Your son is having a daughter in about two months,” Angel pointed out.

Judith floundered for a second. “They can come live here with me,” she decided.

“Ah, right,” Angel agreed.

“You’re going to be a grandmother?” the Doctor said. He grinned at the thought. Families were amazing. 

Judith turned and grinned back at him. “I am,” she said. “They’re leaning toward naming her Josephine.”

“That’s amazing,” the Doctor breathed, both of them sharing that little bubble of joy. “I’m afraid I’ll have to take you back for that.” 

“Well,” Judith sighed. “I’ll get over it.” They shared one more smile before she ducked under a leafy branch that Angel was holding out of her way.

They walked on, the Doctor explaining little tidbits of what he knew about the time and the little village below. The night was hot and a little muggy, but the Doctor thought it added a visceral weight to the time, like the world was just that much more real. They wound far around to the east, the Doctor racking his brain trying to remember the exact path he had taken with Donna all those years ago. Finally, they emerged at a clearing on the crest of a hill. Below them, tiny lights twinkled in a village, and the humidity carried the scent of woodsmoke all the way up to them.

“Here we are!” the Doctor announced, and plopped down on the ground. He immediately stood up again. “Wait, I have....” he dug around in his pockets, feeling for the blanket that he had rashly shoved into it in the kitchen. He felt around his sonic screwdriver, some wiring, what felt like a bouncy ball before he found the large black and red plaid blanket again. “For our picnic,” the Doctor said. “Except it was done in a bit of a rush. I didn’t bring sandwiches. Or that weird noodle salad.” 

Judith laughed and bent to straighten out the blanket before sitting on it. “We wouldn’t have time for food anyway, I imagine the ‘show’ is going to be fairly quick if this is the first.” 

“And I don’t eat,” Angel added, settling himself down beside Judith.

“It’s for the best then,” the Doctor agreed and sat down again himself, also next to Judith. “Although there is a bit of waiting...”

“Oi! WATCH IT!” Donna’s voice shouted off to the left. Angel and Judith jumped, looking toward the direction of the sound.

“About ten minutes then,” the Doctor said, smiling into the darkness. He knew his past self was answering, but his voice was much lower and the words muffled. 

Donna’s voice replied, “You could have _told_ me we were going to be climbing trees… What exactly do you mean by that? I like these shoes.”

Judith raised an eyebrow at the Doctor. “Is that the-- How did you put it?-- The ‘shouty redhead,’ then?” she asked.

The Doctor started out of his memory of trying to hoist a kicking and complaining Donna into a tree for the “best view.” In hindsight, maybe he should have done the picnic then. With his butt firmly on the ground now, he must have learned something over the years. “Hmmm?” he said. 

Angel and Judith looked at him expectantly. 

The Doctor looked down at the blanket. “Right. Yes. That’s Donna,” he said. 

“Who’s with her?” Judith asked. “I can’t make out the words, but that doesn’t sound like your cadence.” 

The Doctor scratched the back of his neck nervously. “No, that’s me...it’s just been a while. My voice has changed a bit...”

Angel snorted. 

“Well, it has,” the Doctor groused. 

Judith turned her confused look to Angel. Probably because he was a better bet at being able to clear things up.

Angel explained, “The Doctor can regenerate his body if he’s killed. The version of him over there is his last incarnation. Much better-looking than this one.”

“What?!” the Doctor objected, looking at Angel with a firm glare. Angel replied with a quick grin.

“Oh,” Judith said slowly, trying to wrap her mind around the idea. “So how many have there been?”

“Ah, now we’re going to compare them are we? I think I might prefer the version of this conversation where everyone says that it’s silly and they don’t believe me until they actually _see_ it. I happen to _like_ this me, thank you.”

“Actually,” Judith said, “I believe you entirely. I was more curious about the number of times you’ve died. Although if it’s possible to go meet this better-looking version...” She looked at the Doctor with a small smirk.

“Ten! Alright?” The Doctor crossed his arms. “Not counting the times I didn’t regenerate. Because it doesn’t count.”

“Why not?”

“Because then I’d have to remember and I don’t feel like it. And you have to start arguing about rules about how dead you have to be for it to _really_ count. It’s messy. As far as Time Lords are concerned, you’re not dead until you get a new face.”

“I see,” Judith replied. “Fascinating...”

“But if we _were_ counting other deaths, I think the bit with the poison would definitely count. Also the time that Dalek shot me. So that makes it at least twelve.”

Angel gave a little shudder and he leaned back on his elbows. “I hate poison,” he commented.

The Doctor nodded. “And radiation. Judith, never die of radiation poisoning.”

“I wasn’t planning on it,” she replied. 

“That is very sensible of you.” 

“Thank you,” Judith replied sincerely. “I do try to be sensible. I’m not always...but I do try.”

“THAT is NOT my arm!” Donna shouted to the left.

The Doctor stretched out on the blanket while Judith stared in the direction of the voices.

“ _What_ were you doing?” she asked.

The Doctor squinted at the darkness for a moment. “Err...I think we’re climbing a tree. It’s closer over there, but the whole point is to be out of sight. See? I think I have grown as a person.” He patted the blanket-covered ground.

“That sounds like the most complicated tree-climbing experience I’ve ever heard,” Judith said, turning back to look at the village below them.

The Doctor suddenly rolled over so that he could look directly at Judith. “The thing I do not get about women,” he said, “is the shoes. Why heels? I mean, I _get_ most of the rest of it. I do. I’ve traveled with a _ton_ of women...and...” he stuttered briefly to a stop as he noticed the raised eyebrow Angel was giving him. He decided to ignore it and hope it went away and continued, “But the point is: why the silly shoes?”

Judith smiled. “I’m surprised you never sought out the inventor of high heels to ask him...or her. I think we all just assume it was a him, but I wonder if anyone really knows?”

“It was actually an ‘it.’ Vollassians don’t have a sex. And it doesn’t explain why people wear them.”

“Well...” Judith thought about her answer for a moment. “I suppose the answer depends on how philosophical we want to get. A simple answer would be shoes most easily reflect who we are--or who we want to be. They control our gait, after all, and the way we carry ourselves is crucial body language. Who can expect to command authority in a pair of sneakers, for instance? Who can expect to appear confident without standing straight and maintaining poise that high heels force? Shoes convey a great deal, really.”

The Doctor tapped the toes of his boots together and looked doubtful. “I think you’d look a lot more confident if you could actually walk in them. And I could and have commanded quite a few people in trainers.”

“But I’m willing to bet it’s because you don’t care what kind of shoes you’re wearing. It’s not just the shoes themselves that give power, of course. Only the illusion that they do. I got rid of my most wildly impractical shoes many years ago for that reason. Except the one pair.” She allowed herself a smile. “They were just too beautiful to let go of, even if I never wear them.”

Angel, who had sunk into a complete reclining position, lifted his head. “What? That’s not very sensible of you, Judith.”

She smiled a bit impishly. “I know.”

The Doctor looked between the two of them. “Angel, I think you’re supposed to be on my side for this.”

“I am,” Angel replied, laying back down again. “Mostly.”

The Doctor looked doubtful. “Still, there have been whole days dedicated to piles of impractical shoes and then what do you do? Wear them on a hiking trip. Although, not actually you, I suppose....”

Judith looked at her own shoes, which were a chronologically-appropriate version of a slipper. “I think it’s best to be prepared for anything,” she replied. Then she added, “which is another reason why I kept that one pair. I don’t anticipate ever needing to appear like a hypersexual 20-something again, but you never know...”

“That’s right,” Angel said sagely. “You never know.”

Judith shot him a quick not-entirely-unfriendly glare, but looked away just as quickly. 

“I suspect,” the Doctor said, deciding to do his part to ignore Angel and Judith’s exchange, “that it will remain a Mystery of the Universe to me.” He suddenly sat bolt upright. “Oh, look, here they come now.”

Judith straightened in anticipation, and Angel sat up, too. For a moment, all they could hear was the chirping of insects, but then a loud popping noise like firecrackers burst from the village and echoed off the mountains around them.

“Ah, bursting bamboo!” the Doctor said, thrilled. “I _love_ to say that, by the way! Bursting bamboo bursting bamboo bursting bamboo....” 

Judith laughed lightly, and then, from the center of the village, a tiny streak of light shot up into the air. Their eyes followed the tail up, up until it went out. They held their breath.

_Pfft._

It was hardly more than a glow of white light. The Doctor sat up straighter still and clapped as though he’d never been more impressed by anything else. Another _pfft_ of a firework went off, followed by one more. And then a streak of light rose up in the air much higher than the others. There was a very long second after the streak went out before,

_Boom!_

A burst of red color exploded over the village, lighting everything in a scarlet glow for several seconds. Judith smiled, and the Doctor glanced across her at Angel, who also wore a small grin. The red light faded from their faces, and the Doctor looked back at the village.

“What a finale!” the Doctor exclaimed, standing up. “Not that this is actually the finale, really. This is the beginning. I love beginnings. Look! See down there? Everyone’s running out into the street. Brand new noise, really. Pretty soon they’ll be deciding that anything that loud must scare off the spirits. And there you are! Explosions and color. Instant party. Love fireworks. I really...” The Doctor blinked at a rustling noise coming from off to the left. Time hitched. The Doctor’s stomach clenched unpleasantly. “...do,” he finished the sentence just as a skinny, brown-coated, sandshoe-wearing man emerged from the woods exactly where he shouldn’t be. 

“Oh,” the Doctors said at the exact same time. 

The newcoming (the old, younger, interrupting) Doctor recovered first. “Hello then!” he said, taking in Judith, Angel, and finally ending his assessment with the Doctor. “This is your fault, you know.” 

“What?” the Doctor protested. 

“Sorry,” the younger Doctor said quickly, not sounding sorry at all, “just wanted to get that out of the way. Hello, Angel! How have you been? I didn’t know you liked fireworks.” 

The Doctor folded his arms across his chest as the “better looking” him chatted up his friends. “It can’t be my fault, I don’t remember a bit of it.” He really didn’t. He had been so sure that he and Donna had never ventured on this side of the valley. 

Angel rubbed his forehead. “This is going to be the end of me,” he muttered. “I know it.”

Judith stood up, straightening her robe, and held out a hand to the new arrival. “Doctor,” she said, “I’m Judith Cole.” As the younger Doctor eyed up Judith’s hand (was that really what he looked like before he shook hands? The Doctor remembered being better at it) Judith looked over her shoulder at the Doctor. “You never mentioned that you met me before.”

“I haven’t,” the Doctor said, honestly. He really didn’t remember this encounter at all. Then again, things did get weird when he ran into himself. “It doesn’t count if I don’t remember.” 

“It’s a bit of a self defense thing,” the other Doctor supplied, talking over the end of the Doctor’s sentence. His hand redirected from its journey into a handshake to gesturing to his counterpart instead. “You can’t have paradoxes popping up every time you meet yourself. No one would ever survive. So...you forget.”

“Unless you don’t.” 

“Unless you don’t,” the Doctor agreed with himself. “But! It is lovely to meet you anyway. It’s a shame I’ll have to wait to remember it.” He looked into her eyes when he said it and moved to take her still-extended hand. He stumbled and missed. It took him long enough to recover that he seemed to forget about shaking Judith’s hand entirely. She dropped her hand, apparently giving up on the handshake (clearly it wasn’t happening at this point). Her expression had shifted to a more serious look as she tried to keep up with the jumbled explanations from both Doctors.

“Speaking of,” the Doctor said to at least try to break the ice, “you’re going to get Donna different shoes aren’t you?”

“Why would anyone wear heels on a hiking trip?” the Doctor asked himself.

“We told her we were going to Paris.” 

The younger Doctor said, “Oooh. We did didn’t we?” He looked as if he was remembering from long past school days and not something that had probably happened several hours ago at the most. “Why’d we tell her that?” 

The Doctor shrugged. “I’d suggest, though, that you be off. If you hurry she might not slap you.” 

“Right! Sorry everyone.” The younger Doctor gave Judith another smile. “I’m pulling the universe apart just a little bit here...and I really don’t want to get slapped.” Both Doctors winced. “Angel,” the Doctor turned to look at the vampire and hesitated. ”I’m going to apologize in advance… I’m sure this guy’s gotten on your nerves already today.”

Angel grunted from his seat on the blanket, but gave him a smile. “Not yet,” he replied.

The younger Doctor’s smile flickered for a second. “Er...yes, well, maybe try not to,” he said to himself. 

“He doesn’t mean it,” Judith assured them. “He just likes to put on airs of grumpiness. He’ll get over it soon enough.”

The Doctor shared a nervous look with himself at the idea. They both moved to step away from each other in the same direction, but it ended up being in the same direction. 

“You’re that way,” said the Doctor, pointing off to the west.

“I’m this way,” said the Doctor, pointing off to the southeast. 

They both ended up circling each other twice before they managed to sort out which way they needed to move to get out of their own way. Eventually, the Doctor threw up his hands and sat back down next to Angel on the blanket. “Off you go! I’ll just sit here because you obviously can’t be trusted not to run into me!” 

“Right!” said the Doctor. He waved again at Judith. His eyes seemed to slide over Angel and landed on the Doctor. They both looked at each other and the Doctor could swear it almost looked like an apology before the younger Doctor turned without a word and jogged off into the darkness.

He left quite the silence behind. The sort of silence that built up like a bubble in the Doctor’s mind until the ripples of disrupted time sloshed into stillness. 

And then the bubble popped. Quite violently. 

Suddenly, memories of meeting himself dumped into the Doctor’s past, taking up space that he hadn’t made for them. Possibly because there simply wasn’t enough space for the deep, bleeding, screaming pain that the Doctor left in his wake. More than a chance encounter in the woods, the Doctor remembered why his younger self was walking in the woods without Donna. 

“Is he gone?” Angel asked, his voice sounding oddly echo-y in the Doctor’s ears. 

The Doctor suppressed the urge to flinch away as the memories kept crowding in. He couldn’t do this here. Not with Angel--he swallowed down the urge to vomit and mentally recited mathematical equations until he trusted his voice to speak. He looked at Angel and looked away again. Licking his finger, the Doctor mimicked his earlier performance and stuck it in the air to buy himself time. “Nearly,” he said.

“Well,” Judith said, sounding far away on Angel’s other side, “that was almost more eventful than the fireworks show itself. Not to diminish it, of course, it was wonderful. But how...interesting to meet another version of yourself, Doctor. I suppose you’ve taken people to these sorts of firsts a lot. Have you been to the last fireworks show, too?”

The Doctor had seen the Earth burn away to dust at the end of its life. Just as everything else burned away. “I’m not really a fan of lasts,” the Doctor said. “It’s a bit messy anyway.” He forced himself to smile. That was usually the best way forward. 

Chancing a look at Angel, the Doctor found him rubbing the fingertips of one of his hands together as he reclined on the blanket, as if wiping off a bit of dirt. It somehow came off as sinister, the way he focused with such detachment; like he didn’t really care if there was dirt or if it was on his fingers, but rather, it was the motion itself that was important. The impression he made while doing it.

“You can’t have firsts without lasts,” Judith said softly. “But I suppose that’s the beauty of it.” Looking around, she stood up from the blanket. “I’m just going to see if I can get a better view of the village.”

“Sorry,” the Doctor said, jolting up from where he sat, “I didn’t--” he scrambled for an excuse and landed on something close to the truth, “I didn’t really plan for too much time for this. I’ll miss the Alignment if we don’t get you two back.” 

“The Alignment?” Judith asked.

Angel pushed himself up off the blanket, too, his motion as graceful as a panther. “The Doctor has an appointment with the universe,” he told her, snatching the blanket up to fold it. “It’s important he doesn’t miss it.”

“I’m terrible at deadlines,” the Doctor said, making his way to Judith’s far side. He breathed in the hot, smokey air and it felt choking now. He coughed. “I really need to keep focused or I’ll let it slide by.” 

“Well,” Judith said, picking up the other end of the blanket to help Angel fold it. “Let’s make sure you’re not late.”

Once the blanket was folded and put in the basket, Angel picked it up as Juidth lamented that they had forgotten to have their tea and biscuits. 

“I’ll make you something when we get back,” Angel promised her. “Although the kitchen’s a bit of a mess… I was making a de-lusting spell for someone earlier.”

“You can keep the picnic,” the Doctor said, starting them back off on their hike back. He wished he hadn’t had them walk quite so far. Taking that basket back seemed a difficult task at the moment, but he could take the long walk to throw the mental equivalent of a blanket over the smoldering memories in his mind. 

“Yeah?” Angel asked. “Thanks. We can take it to the roof.”

“Oh, that sounds lovely,” Judith agreed. “And then I could clean your kitchen for you, if you’d like.”

“Nah,” Angel replied. “I don’t mind. It’s kind of relaxing. Besides, I have other ‘and thens’ planned.”

The Doctor couldn’t help but imagine what horrible ‘and thens’ those were. The old, familiar, in-the-right-place memories reminded him that this was the Angel he’d lived with for over a week. There wasn’t anything wrong with whatever it was that Angel wanted to do with his evening. He let Angel and Judith carry the conversation on the way back, both of them walking close and teasing in their soft, gentle way. 

When they got back to the TARDIS and all filed in, Judith turned to the Doctor and asked about her clothing. Twice apparently.

“Doctor,” Judith’s voice said more loudly. “I’ll just be a minute, then, alright?”

Judith was going to go get her clothing. Leaving the Doctor in the console room. With Angel. “You know what?” he said. “I can go grab them. They might have gotten mixed with everything else.” He pushed away from the console. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back in a pop.” 

Both Judith and Angel gave the Doctor a confused look (Angel’s still looked piercing, too), but Judith nodded her head. “I’ll just return these to you later, then?” She gestured to her robes.

“If you like!” the Doctor called over his shoulder as he jogged away. He disappeared back into the cool hallways of the TARDIS, happy to have a task to occupy him; even if that task was finding a pile of clothing. It was easy enough. Judith had folded up her old outfit and left it neatly on a chair inside a dressing room. The Doctor took a long moment to gather himself in the silence of the wardrobe. After all, he was the Doctor. He had faced and defeated worse than this. He adjusted his expression to his normal smile. After all, this was his ending. This was how he would be remembered, and he wanted to be remembered for a smile and a fun trip to see the past. 

He should have known he was more likely to go out with a bang. 

Walking back into the console room just in time to take his place at the controls, the Doctor adjusted his bow tie and flashed everyone his smile. The smile for battles and hope and living to see another day. “Ready to get back to your lives?” he asked, wrapping his fingers around the lever. 

Judith returned his smile. “Ready,” she replied, stepping up to the console to take the small stack of clothing from the Doctor. “You’ll have to come meet Josephine in a few months,” she added.

“I’d hate to miss something like that,” the Doctor told her, appreciating her calming energy more now than ever. Today, he needed it. “I hope it’s amazing,” he said. 

Beaming at him, Judith replied, “It already is.” Nodding to the console and placing her hand on the edge for support, she added, “Alright, I’m ready.”

The Doctor took in the smile, and the soothing calm like the quiet after an explosion. In a way, it was good that this was how it happened. After all, he hated endings, so why not do them all at once. The Doctor could make out Angel’s quizzical expression reflecting in one of the brass instruments. He had to know something was wrong, but it wasn’t the Doctor’s place to tell him now. They all had a future to either play into or avoid. Fortunately, perhaps ironically, it was Angel that had provided the Doctor’s method of avoiding his future. He would have to thank Angel for that before he left. 

“I guess I’m ready too,” the Doctor said. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! We're going to go start editing to next story in the lineup now...


End file.
